akj-audio stands for individual sound, beyond genre clichés. I desire to make emotions tangible through sound and to emphasize what is special about your music. Therefore, I listen carefully to the »story« that each piece has to tell – and will use all the technical tricks to get the best out of your material. You can find out more about me here.
At akj-audio, mixing and mastering are usually combined, as mastering is only the last step towards a balanced sound that meets the technical standards of the respective medium. Advanced (AI-supported) analysis tools serve as a second (and third) »pair of ears«. But the actual sound is created in the mix. Here, there are the greatest potentials to shape the sound. Therefore, in addition to mixing/mastering, I also offer remixing and creative production enhancements on request – using a huge selection of virtual instruments and sampling libraries (see below). Further information can be found on the subpage on the »services and prices«.
akj-audio is the right choice if you don't want to sound like …, but – with my support – seek for your individual sound. I am also happy to contribute creative ideas or experiment with innovative sound shaping approaches where appropriate. In any case, I do not follow a standard pattern (and I certainly do neither use fully automatic mixing tools). The ultimate goal always remains: good sound. Of course, that is always a highly subjective thing. For me, in addition to spectral balance, which gives each element in the mix its own space, good sound means: an immersive spatial impression, which is created by consistent positioning in the panorama and depth gradation (binaural and ambisonic mixes are also possible!). Natural dynamics is in my opinion another key element to good sound. Let your music breathe instead of sucking the punch out of the transients by over-compression. May others fight the loudness war ;-)
In the last step of the mix it is also possible to be here for an attended session while your track gets the finishing touches – in a relaxed atmosphere in my rooftop studio with a breathtaking view over the old town of Augsburg (Germany), the city where the Mozart family originates from.
I made a conscious decision to go for purely digital workflow »in-the-box« because it is so much more flexible than the analog realm and offers many more possibilities – even for adding (precisely dosed portions of) saturation, noise and »dirt«. Innovative, modern technologies allow doing things that seemed impossible just a few years ago (such as adaptive spectral balancing or AI-powered de-essing). I have access to the best tools available for every conceivable application – whether from industry leaders such as Waves,* UAD, Eventide, Lexicon, iZotope, Native Instruments, Plugin Alliance, Antares, Softube, IK Multimedia, etc. or from smaller, innovative manufacturers such as Sonible, Celemony, MeldaProduction, Voxengo, Overloud, ToneBoosters, AudioThing, PSP, Flux, Valhalla DSP or Klanghelm. And most importantly: I have the knowledge and experience to use these tools effectively. In addition, I can creatively enhance your productions with the use of virtual instruments (from Arturia, Korg, u-he, Softube, Image Line, GForce, XILS Labs, Sugar Bytes, Newfangled Audio, Sonic Charge etc.) and sound libraries (with several terabytes of high-quality samples/instruments from Spitfire Audio, Orchestral Tools, UVI, Cinesamples, 8Dio, Soundiron and many other leading manufacturers). Where the digital domain has to be left behind, such as for monitoring, I use professional grade equipment that has been calibrated in order to reproduce the material as balanced and neutral as possible.
If you decide to have mixing and mastering done by akj-audio, I have good news for you: My prices are much cheaper than you probably expect. You can find some pricing examples on the subpage »services and prices«.
* Disclaimer: All protected brand names are used purely descriptively for identification and information purposes and are the property of their respective right holders. Their use does not imply that akj-audio is affiliated with the right holders or that the use of the brand names was endorsed by the rights holders.